Bus subsidy aims to ease Tiburon Peninsula traffic

School-related traffic on Tiburon Boulevard has gotten so bad in the last few years, local leaders have decided to entice parents to put their children on school buses.

The traffic "is generally viewed as the most pressing issue facing Tiburon and Belvedere," said Belvedere Mayor Bob McCaskill. "It has grown steadily worse over the past several years."

The two councils have combined to offer up to at least $225,000 to add three bus routes to serve Reed Union School District, while trying to eliminate several hundred car trips a day.

The money is intended to subsidize the cost of bus passes by covering half the cost. Without the subsidy, a one-way bus pass for the year costs $427. It's $854 for students who take the bus to and from school.

"That's a pretty stiff hit," said Tiburon City Manager Peggy Curran.

A survey taken earlier this year revealed four recurring themes indicating why parents aren't putting their children on buses. Many cited the annual costs. Also of concern were the locations of bus stops, lengthy rides and a mix of age groups, as parents with younger students said they were concerned about the potential for bullying by older kids.

While the grant is intended to encourage more parents to sign up their children for bus services, the subsidy would extend to families who had already signed up prior to the subsidy being offered.

The goal is to sell at least 360 one-way bus passes, otherwise the project will be scrapped. Some students only take the bus in the morning or in the afternoon. A student who is signed up to take the bus both ways would account for two toward the goal of 360.

McCaskill said they need to get the signups by Aug. 8.

The money — 80 percent to be paid by Tiburon and 20 percent by Belvedere — is coming from the cities' reserve funds, intended as a one-time expenditure to see if increased bus ridership is the solution. If it is, officials said a long-term funding source will have to be figured out, since paying from city coffers is not sustainable.

The school district includes three schools serving Belvedere, Tiburon, surrounding unincorporated areas and an eastern swath of Corte Madera.

Enrollment has increased 50 percent in the last five years, to about 1,600 students, as young families flock to the area to join the reputable school district. That has put a tremendous strain on Tiburon Boulevard — the peninsula's only practical thoroughfare — around 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., when school days start and end.

"From Tiburon Town Hall to Trestle Glen Boulevard, it could take you 30 minutes" during the high-traffic times," McCaskill said. "It usually will only take you about seven minutes."

Tiburon Boulevard is the peninsula's only practical thoroughfare. Paradise Drive is the other route on and off the peninsula, but it is a long, winding road that is not conducive to getting places with any expediency.

The bus routes that were in circulation last school year — three in the morning and four in the afternoon — will continue to run; the pilot project calls for adding three buses in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Reed contracts with First Student for its bus service.

McCaskill said Corte Madera was not approached about taking part in the project, despite being home to some Reed students.

"If the program works, we'll be talking to them in the future about it," McCaskill said. "This isn't a program to subsidize school buses. It's to reduce traffic. That's why the two city councils decided this is our problem."

Reed Superintendent Steven Herzog said the haste in which the project has come together makes it difficult to get enough students signed up in time, and will cause some confusion for parents who have already signed up their children.

"It's going to create some confusion for our parents because we had already sold 677 one-way passes," Herzog said. "Our biggest worry is that a lot of people take off over the summer, and there is a short window to get people signed up."

If they don't get enough sign-ups by the deadline, "my hope is we do it right next time and start in March," Herzog said.

But McCaskill said all efforts are making it work for this school year.

"Our fervent hope is for this to work now," McCaskill said. "We hope parents will realize this is for everyone's benefit and we hope we get the sign-ups."